JUPITER, Fla. — The St. Louis Cardinals trimmed their minor-league camp by seven, including the release of catcher Justin Knoedler — a move that solidifies who will be the catching tandem in Class AAA Memphis and how the depth shapes up at that position.

Matt Pagnozzi, who lingered in the major-league camp until Monday, has won the backup job at Memphis. Knoedler, who played in the majors last with San Francisco, was signed this offseason to get…

JUPITER, Fla. — A time-honored tradition here at Roger Dean Stadium for a few members of the copy klatch is keeping a stopwatch on the National Anthem. It’s spring training for the vocalists, too, and some can run a little … say, showy … with their interpretations. A similar exercise could be done with the questions that make up The PD-Q.

As mentioned before, some click through the questions and others ponder. And then there are…

JUPITER, Fla. — However the St. Louis Cardinals third base position shakes out at the major-league level, it seems certain that first-round pick Brett Wallace will begin this season at Class AA Springfield. Few think that he will stay there for long.

Though given barely a second glance at the major-league camp this spring, Wallace has clicked along at his usual 3-for-5, 2-for-5 pace during minor-league games. On Saturday, he broke loose.

Wallace, a third baseman, went…

JUPITER, Fla. — As innings get more scarce and at-bats get more important late in spring training, some of the major-league players — or, more precisely, those battling for major-league jobs — have to find their swings and their pitches elsewhere. Enter the minor-league games.

The trip across the state and a couple other assignments put me a couple days behind on the Vuch Reports. How better to spend an overcast Sunday back here at the…

FORT MYERS, Fla. — For the most part, every player I’ve approached this spring with the 20 or so questions that make up The P-DQ has gamely taken the time to answer them. Sometimes they breeze through them with short, precise answers. Sometimes they labor over them, crafting an answer. Often they draw a crowd of teammates who encourage or needle their answers.

And then there was Dustin Pedroia.

The Boston Red Sox second baseman, reigning American…

JUPITER, Fla. — One of the tricky things about reading box scores from spring training back there in the northern tundra is the inability to see the defensive side of the game. It’s impossible to know how Skip Schumaker is adjusting to second base this late in the camp or how he and Khalil Greene are clicking as a double-play combo without the benefit of something beyond the box score.

Ditto with the minors — only…

JUPITER, Fla. — When working my way through the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse with The P-DQ this spring training, many of his teammates have suggested that, “Oh, you’ve got to try this Todd.” Todd being the clubhouse Colonel, the bluegrass conservative and starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer.

On Wednesday morning, I pulled up a stool — Josh Kinney’s stool, to be precise — next to Wellemeyer’s locker and asked him the handful of questions that make up…

JUPITER, Fla. — There is little doubt that Mark McCormick has the arm that merited a big signing bonus and early selection in the 2005 draft. He just hasn’t been able to do much with it. Injuries have hurt his development, but so has his inability to rein in that right arm.

Last season was billed as a pivotal one for the righthander. This one just better be a productive one.

McCormick, a starter since his days…

JUPITER, Fla. — Way back during the Junior Spivey era of Cardinals second basemen, the Cleveland Indians passed a big-hype, big-frustration prospect through waivers. Every other team had a crack at landing this infielder who once showed up at spring training with personalized batting gloves that read, “The Franchise.” The St. Louis Cardinals, governed by general manager Walt Jocketty, and scrambling for an alternative when the Spivey signing whiffed, were one of 28 teams who…

JUPITER, Fla. — One-time minor-league batting champion Isa Garcia was among five players released this morning in the first wave of cuts from the St. Louis Cardinals minor-league camp.

Garcia, a second baseman, was a 34th-round selection in the 2006 draft. He was identified by his college numbers, which stood out when the Cardinals ran them through their metrics thats normalize college stats from different conferences, different quality of opponents and different ballparks. Immediately, he looked…

JUPITER, Fla. — Turns out, for a guy who could have played hockey in college and has turned into a fine major-league pitcher, what Chris Carpenter would really like to be able to do is lace up his Chucks and … Well, don’t want to give away the ending.

In this morning’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch, colleague Joe Strauss explored the pitch-by-pitch uncertainty that is the health of Carpenter’s joints. Every time he wheels back to fire a…

JUPITER, Fla. — During the tour of Florida this past week, there were several opportunities to unfurl the list of questions that make up the Vanity Fair-esque PD-Q and get some answers from around baseball. And it’s like today’s will disappoint. Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge will forever have a place in St. Louis Cardinals’ lore for one pitch — one pitch that Albert Pujols hit into history that October night back in 2005. It was the…

JUPITER, Fla. — Two of the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor-leaguers took the international stage Tuesday night in the World Baseball Classic — one in a flickering but starring role and the other doing what was needed.

Former first-round pick Adam Ottavino pitched three superb innings for Team Italia against Venezuela in Toronto, throwing three shutout and striking out three against one walk. Ottavino whiffed Magglio Ordonez on a breaking ball. The only hit he gave up…

JUPITER, Fla. — St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick isn’t too overly concerned about the torso soreness that sidelined him the other day. He was, instead, semi-comforted by it because it gave him cause to realize something rather remarkable about missing a game due to injury.

He hadn’t done it in a long time.

After years lost and seasons abbreviated by a host of injuries, Ludwick said he’s gone two years without missing a game due to…

JUPITER, Fla. — With the first off day of spring training here for the St. Louis Cardinals, there’s time to ride some tangents — when you’re not riding the birthday boy’s “tsunami,” that is.

While working on a blog entry that you will see up in this space shortly about outfielder Colby Rasmus and how to read the recently released Baseball America Top 100 Prospects, I was intrigued by how BA took the depth charts us correspondents file…